NBA: Sacramento deal comparable to Seattle, needs work

NBA Commissioner David Stern said an offer by a Sacramento group to buy and keep the Kings in Sacramento is comparable to Seattle’s deal, but still needs work.

The situation in New York remains fluid, and the Sacramento proposal is likely to improve as early as today, Stern said, making the league's decision more difficult.

“We’ve never had a situation like this before,” Stern said, speaking about the decision that NBA Board of Governors faces in not only voting for a sale, but also voting the relocation of a team. The decision is unlike anything ever faced by the NBA.

A recommendation could come next week, followed by a full vote sometime during the second week of May.

Speaking in more detail about the Sacramento-led proposal, Stern said the deal has some structural issues, but is within the ballpark of the Seattle bid, which puts the franchise valuation of the Sacramento Kings at $550 million -- an NBA record price for a team.

Earlier in the day, the Maloof family asked for the league to move forward with the Seattle deal instead of Sacramento's because the local bid did not match up.

In a letter to the NBA, the Maloofs said there is “significant distance between us and the Sacramento group” and that it was not binding.

The league disputed some of the concerns raised by the Maloofs.

Stern said the Sacramento deal is binding -- and the committee is treating it as such -- and offers a down payment, but it had not been countersigned by the current owners, the Maloof family.

If the NBA Board of Governors approves to keep the Kings in Sacramento, Stern said the Maloof family would get a deal that is in the "same ballpark" with respect to the net result of what Seattle's deal would offer to the family.

“For us the linchpin seems to be, and the committee agrees, or the committee directs, that the first issue is whether we’re prepared to authorize the team to move,” Stern said.

Ultimately, Stern said the decision of approving the sale to Seattle goes back to whether or not the league owners want to relocate a franchise.

Each city's ability to construct a new arena was also a point of concern. "We're most concerned with the critical path of arenas to getting built," Stern said.

And additional issues remain unresolved.

"There are some ongoing discussions that we have to have with both groups that I'm not prepared to talk to you about now because we want to talk to them first," Stern said.

Stern, however, said both deals from each city are viable.

"There's going to be a disappointed city one way or the other," Stern said.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Sunday it was "very alarmed" by reports of widespread doping by track and field athletes in major competitions including the Olympic Games and world championships.